Book of Genesis

Summary of the Book of Genesis

This summary of the book of Genesis provides information about the title, author(s), date of writing, chronology, theme,
theology, outline, a brief overview, and the chapters of the Book of Genesis.

Title

The first phrase in the Hebrew text of 1:1 is bereshith ("in [the]
beginning"), which is also the Hebrew title of the book (books in ancient times
customarily were named after their first word or two). The English title, Genesis,
is Greek in origin and comes from the word geneseos, which appears
in the pre-Christian Greek translation (Septuagint) of 2:4; 5:1. Depending
on its context, the word can mean "birth," "genealogy," or "history of origin."
In both its Hebrew and Greek forms, then, the traditional title of Genesis
appropriately describes its contents, since it is primarily a book of beginnings.

Background

Chs. 1-38 reflect a great deal of what we know from other sources about ancient
Mesopotamian life and culture. Creation, genealogies, destructive floods, geography
and mapmaking, construction techniques, migrations of peoples, sale and purchase
of land, legal customs and procedures, sheepherding and cattle-raising -- all
these subjects and many others were matters of vital concern to the peoples
of Mesopotamia during this time. They were also of interest to the individuals,
families and tribes of whom we read in the first 38 chapters of Genesis. The
author appears to locate Eden, humankind's first home, in or near Mesopotamia;
the tower of Babel was built there; Abram was born there; Isaac took a wife
from there; and Jacob lived there for 20 years. Although these patriarchs settled
in Canaan, their original homeland was Mesopotamia.

The closest ancient literary parallels to Ge 1-38 also come from Mesopotamia. Enuma
elish, the story of the god Marduk's rise to supremacy in the Babylonian
pantheon, is similar in some respects (though thoroughly mythical and polytheistic)
to the Ge 1 creation account. Some of the features of certain king lists
from Sumer bear striking resemblance to the genealogy in Ge 5. The 11th tablet
of the Gilgamesh epic is quite similar in outline to the flood narrative
in Ge 6-8. Several of the major events of Ge 1-8 are narrated in the same
order as similar events in the Atrahasis epic. In fact, the latter
features the same basic motif of creation-rebellion-flood as the Biblical
account. Clay tablets found in 1974 at the ancient (c. 2500-2300 b.c.) site
of Ebla (modern Tell Mardikh) in northern Syria may also contain some intriguing
parallels.

Two other important sets of documents demonstrate the reflection of Mesopotamia
in the first 38 chapters of Genesis. From the Mari letters,
dating from the patriarchal period, we learn that the names of the patriarchs
(including especially Abram, Jacob and Job) were typical of that time. The
letters also clearly illustrate the freedom of travel that was possible between
various parts of the Amorite world in which the patriarchs lived. The Nuzi
tablets, though a few centuries later than the patriarchal
period, shed light on patriarchal customs, which tended to survive virtually
intact for many centuries. The inheritance right of an adopted household member
or slave (see 15:1-4), the obligation of a barren wife to furnish her husband
with sons through a servant girl (see 16:2-4), strictures against expelling
such a servant girl and her son (see 21:10-11), the authority of oral statements
in ancient Near Eastern law, such as the deathbed bequest (see 27:1-4,22-23,33) -- these and other legal customs, social contracts and provisions are graphically illustrated
in Mesopotamian documents.

As Ge 1-38 is Mesopotamian in character and background, so chs. 39 - 50 reflect
Egyptian influence -- though in not quite so direct a way. Examples of such influence
are: Egyptian grape cultivation (40:9-11), the riverside scene (ch. 41), Egypt
as Canaan's breadbasket (ch. 42), Canaan as the source of numerous products
for Egyptian consumption (ch. 43), Egyptian religious and social customs (the
end of chs. 43; 46), Egyptian administrative procedures (ch. 47), Egyptian
funerary practices (ch. 50) and several Egyptian words and names used throughout
these chapters. The closest specific literary parallel from Egypt is the Tale
of Two Brothers, which bears some resemblance to the story of Joseph and
Potiphar's wife (ch. 39). Egyptian autobiographical narratives (such as the Story of Sinuhe and the Report of Wenamun) and certain historical legends
offer more general literary parallels.

Author and Date of Writing

Historically, Jews and Christians alike have held that Moses was the author/compiler
of the first five books of the OT. These books, known also as the Pentateuch
(meaning "five-volumed book"), were referred to in Jewish tradition as the
five fifths of the law (of Moses). The Bible itself suggests Mosaic authorship
of Genesis, since Ac 15:1 refers to circumcision as "the custom taught by Moses,"
an allusion to Ge 17. However, a certain amount of later editorial updating
does appear to be indicated (see, e.g., notes on 14:14; 36:31; 47:11).

The historical period during which Moses lived seems to be fixed with a fair
degree of accuracy by 1 Kings. We are told that "the fourth year of Solomon's
reign over Israel" was the same as "the four hundred and eightieth year after
the Israelites had come out of Egypt" (1Ki 6:1). Since the former was c. 966
b.c., the latter -- and thus the date of the exodus -- was c. 1446 (assuming that
the 480 in 1Ki 6:1 is to be taken literally; see Introduction to Judges: Background).
The 40-year period of Israel's wanderings in the desert, which lasted from
c. 1446 to c. 1406, would have been the most likely time for Moses to write
the bulk of what is today known as the Pentateuch.

During the last three centuries many interpreters have claimed to find in
the Pentateuch four underlying sources. The presumed documents, allegedly dating
from the tenth to the fifth centuries b.c., are called J (for Jahweh/Yahweh,
the personal OT name for God), E (for Elohim, a generic name for God), D (for
Deuteronomic) and P (for Priestly). Each of these documents is claimed to have
its own characteristics and its own theology, which often contradicts that
of the other documents. The Pentateuch is thus depicted as a patchwork of stories,
poems and laws. However, this view is not supported by conclusive evidence,
and intensive archaeological and literary research has tended to undercut many
of the arguments used to challenge Mosaic authorship.

Theological Theme and Message

Genesis speaks of beginnings -- of the heavens and the earth, of light and darkness,
of seas and skies, of land and vegetation, of sun and moon and stars, of sea
and air and land animals, of human beings (made in God's own image, the climax
of his creative activity), of marriage and family, of society and civilization,
of sin and redemption. The list could go on and on. A key word in Genesis is
"account," which also serves to divide the book into its ten major parts (see
Literary Features and Literary Outline) and which includes such concepts as
birth, genealogy and history.

The book of Genesis is foundational to the understanding of the rest of the
Bible. Its message is rich and complex, and listing its main elements gives
a succinct outline of the Biblical message as a whole. It is supremely a book
that speaks about relationships, highlighting those between God and his creation,
between God and humankind, and between human beings. It is thoroughly monotheistic,
taking for granted that there is only one God worthy of the name and opposing
the ideas that there are many gods (polytheism), that there is no god at all
(atheism) and that everything is divine (pantheism). It clearly teaches that
the one true God is sovereign over all that exists (i.e., his entire creation),
and that he often exercises his unlimited freedom to overturn human customs,
traditions and plans. It introduces us to the way in which God initiates and
makes covenants with his chosen people, pledging his love and faithfulness
to them and calling them to promise theirs to him. It establishes sacrifice
as the substitution of life for life (ch. 22). It gives us the first hint of
God's provision for redemption from the forces of evil (compare 3:15 with
Ro 16:17-20) and contains the oldest and most profound statement concerning the
significance of faith (15:6; see note there). More than half of Heb 11 -- a NT list of the faithful -- refers to characters in Genesis.

Literary Features

The message of a book is often enhanced by its literary structure and characteristics.
Genesis is divided into ten main sections, each beginning with the word "account"
(see 2:4; 5:1; 6:9; 10:1; 11:10; 11:27; 25:12; 25:19; 36:1 -- repeated for emphasis
at 36:9 -- and 37:2). The first five sections can be grouped together and, along
with the introduction to the book as a whole (1:1 -- 2:3), can be appropriately
called "primeval history" (1:1 -- 11:26). This introduction to the main story
sketches the period from Adam to Abraham and tells about the ways of God with
the human race as a whole. The last five sections constitute a much longer
(but equally unified) account, and relate the story of God's dealings with
the ancestors of his chosen people Israel (Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and Joseph
and their families) -- a section often called "patriarchal history" (11:27 -- 50:26).
This section is in turn composed of three narrative cycles (Abraham-Isaac,
11:27 -- 25:11; Isaac-Jacob, 25:19 -- 35:29; 37:1; Jacob-Joseph, 37:2 -- 50:26), interspersed by the genealogies of Ishmael (25:12-18) and Esau (ch. 36).

The narrative frequently concentrates on the life of a later son in preference
to the firstborn: Seth over Cain, Shem over Japheth (but see NIV text note
on 10:21), Isaac over Ishmael, Jacob over Esau, Judah and Joseph over their
brothers, and Ephraim over Manasseh. Such emphasis on divinely chosen men and
their families is perhaps the most obvious literary and theological characteristic
of the book of Genesis as a whole. It strikingly underscores the fact that
the people of God are not the product of natural human developments, but are
the result of God's sovereign and gracious intrusion in human history. He brings
out of the fallen human race a new humanity consecrated to himself, called
and destined to be the people of his kingdom and the channel of his blessing
to the whole earth.

Numbers with symbolic significance figure prominently in Genesis. The number
ten, in addition to being the number of sections into which Genesis is divided,
is also the number of names appearing in the genealogies of chs. 5 and 11 (see
note on 5:5). The number seven also occurs frequently. The Hebrew text of 1:1 consists of exactly seven words and that of 1:2 of exactly 14 (twice seven).
There are seven days of creation, seven names in the genealogy of ch. 4 (see
note on 4:17-18; see also 4:15,24; 5:31), various sevens in the flood story, 70 descendants of Noah's sons (ch. 10), a sevenfold promise to Abram (12:2-3),
seven years of abundance and then seven of famine in Egypt (ch. 41), and 70
descendants of Jacob (ch. 46). Other significant numbers, such as 12 and 40,
are used with similar frequency.

The book of Genesis is basically prose narrative, punctuated here and there
by brief poems (the longest is the so-called Blessing of Jacob in 49:2-27).
Much of the prose has a lyrical quality and uses the full range of figures
of speech and other devices that characterize the world's finest epic literature.
Vertical and horizontal parallelism between the two sets of three days in the
creation account (see note on 1:11); the ebb and flow of sin and judgment in
ch. 3 (the serpent and woman and man sin successively; then God questions them
in reverse order; then he judges them in the original order); the powerful
monotony of "and then he died" at the end of paragraphs in ch. 5; the climactic
hinge effect of the phrase "But God remembered Noah" (8:1) at the midpoint
of the flood story; the hourglass structure of the account of the tower of
Babel in 11:1-9 (narrative in vv. 1-2,8-9; discourse in vv. 3-4,6-7; v. 5 acting
as transition); the macabre pun in 40:19 (see 40:13); the alternation between brief accounts about firstborn sons and lengthy accounts about younger sons -- these
and numerous other literary devices add interest to the narrative and provide
interpretive signals to which the reader should pay close attention.

It is no coincidence that many of the subjects and themes of the first three
chapters of Genesis are reflected in the last three chapters of Revelation.
We can only marvel at the superintending influence of the Lord himself, who
assures us that "all Scripture is God-breathed" (2Ti 3:16) and that the men
who wrote it "spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit"
(2Pe 1:21).